Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a sheet loader and an image forming apparatus that corresponds to copier, printer, facsimile machine, printing machine, and multi-functional apparatus including at least two functions of the copier, printer, facsimile machine, and printing machine.
Related Art
Sheet loaders such as sheet trays provided to an image forming apparatus are known to include a pair of regulators such as a pair of side fences. Such a pair of regulators is in contact with a side end of a recording medium to regulate a position in a width direction of the recording medium while the recording medium is loaded on a sheet loader. With the pair of regulators, the sheet loader prevents misalignment of a recording medium in an apparatus body of the image forming apparatus when the recording medium is to be loaded or when the image forming apparatus is hit by an external object.
In recent years, recording media in various paper sizes are used in printing after image formation. Consequently, recording media having various paper sizes are loaded in a sheet feeder. For example, there is a case that recording media having an SRA3 paper size that is larger than an A3 paper size are used for printing.
However, when a recording medium having such a large paper size is loaded on the sheet feeder, the above-described pair of regulators is not sufficient to align the recording medium. In this case, a position of a trailing end of the recording medium is not regulated in a width direction, and therefore misalignment of the recording medium easily occur in the sheet feeder.
In a case in which the length of the pair of regulators is sufficiently long to support the recording medium having a large paper size, the pair of regulators can regulate the position of the recording medium in the width direction. However, in this case, the long length of the pair of regulators causes deterioration in handling the recording medium.
In order to address this inconvenience, a known sheet feeder has employed a configuration in which a rib and a holding portion to regulate a trailing end and a trailing side end of a recording medium having a double letter (DLT) paper size in a housing of a sheet tray, separate from a side fence or side fences.